Dynamic multi-speaker optimization

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and computer program products for dynamically reproducing audio content at an optimal level using a plurality of heterogeneous speaker devices are disclosed herein. The method comprises operations including: comparing the first performance information associated with a first speaker device to second performance information associated with a second speaker device, determining which of the speaker devices is a preferred output device based at least in part on the comparison, and reproducing filtered audio signals via the preferred output devices in response to a request to playback audio content.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/915,740, filed Mar. 8, 2018, the contents of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments included herein generally relate to creating a desiredlistening experience for users in home entertainment systems. Moreparticularly, embodiments relate to creating the desired listeningexperience for users employing a plurality of wireless digital audiospeakers having different audio configurations and/or performancecapabilities.

BACKGROUND

When experiencing media/content having an audio component (e.g., movies,video, music, games, Internet content, etc.) a user may endeavor toreproduce the audio component via multiple speaker devices. Forinstance, a user may wish to employ a plurality of heterogeneous speakerdevices to playback the audio component. In some examples, the pluralityof speaker devices may include speaker devices designed by differentspeaker device manufacturers, and/or multiple speaker device modelsdesigned by a common speaker device manufacturer.

Individual speakers having different playback capabilities may soundpoor when employed together in a multi-speaker device system. Thus, whatis needed is a means for dynamically reproducing audio content at anoptimal level using a plurality of heterogeneous speaker devices.

SUMMARY

An embodiment includes a method for dynamically configuring audioreproduction via a local speaker device of a heterogeneous plurality ofspeaker devices. The method operates by causing the local speaker deviceto identify first performance information associated with the localspeaker device of the heterogeneous group of speaker devices, andreceive second performance information associated with a remote speakerdevice of the heterogeneous group of speaker devices. Further, the localspeaker device compares the first performance information to the secondperformance information, and determines whether the local speaker deviceis a preferred output device at a mapping of a frequency band to aspeaker volume based at least in part on the comparison. When the localspeaker device determines that the local speaker device is a preferredoutput device at a mapping of a frequency band to a speaker volume, thelocal speaker device generates a filter setting indicating that thelocal speaker device is the preferred output device at the mapping ofthe frequency band to the speaker volume. In addition, the local speakerdevice receives an audio signal associated with digital content, atleast a portion of the audio signal to be reproduced by the localspeaker device. Next, the local speaker devices determines a volumesetting associated with the audio signal corresponds to the mapping ofthe frequency band to the speaker volume, and filters, the audio signalbased on the filter setting and the volume setting. In some embodiments,the volume setting refers to a volume level associated with playback ofmedia content. For example, the volume setting may include a decibellevel requested by a user for playback of an audio component of mediacontent. In some other examples, the volume setting may correspond to adefault decibel level associated with playback of an audio component ofmedia content.

Another embodiment includes a speaker device comprising a wirelesscommunication interface, amplifier circuitry and an associated speaker,and a memory storing first performance information indicating a firstperformance value at a mapping of a frequency band to a device volume.Further, the speaker device includes one or more processors and/orcircuits configured to receive, via the wireless interface, secondperformance information associated with a remote speaker device, comparethe first performance information to the second performance information,determine the local speaker device is a preferred output device at themapping of the frequency band to the device volume, and store, to thememory, a filter setting indicating that the local speaker device is thepreferred output device at the mapping of the frequency band to thedevice volume.

Another embodiment includes a system comprising a first speaker deviceassociated with first performance information, and a second speakerdevice associated with second performance information. In addition, thesecond speaker device includes one or more processors and/or circuitsconfigured to receive the first performance information associated withthe first speaker device, compare the first performance information tothe second performance information, generate a filter setting indicatingthat the second speaker device is the preferred output device over thefirst speaker device at a mapping of a frequency band to a devicevolume, receive a content signal from a remote content device, filterthe content signal based at least in part on the filter setting togenerate a filtered audio signal, amplify the content signal todetermine an amplified content signal, and reproduce the amplifiedcontent signal via a speaker of the second speaker device.

Further features and advantages of the embodiments disclosed herein, aswell as the structure and operation of various embodiments, aredescribed in details below with reference to the accompanying drawings.It is noted that this disclosure is not limited to the specificembodiments described herein. Such embodiments are presented herein forillustrative purposes only. Additional embodiments will be apparent to aperson skilled in the relevant art based on the teachings containedherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a partof the specification.

FIG. 1 illustrates a home entertainment system for performing dynamicmulti-speaker optimization with a plurality of heterogeneous speakerdevices, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a home entertainment system for configuring dynamicmulti-speaker optimization with a plurality of heterogeneous speakerdevices, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for performing dynamic multi-speaker optimizationwith a plurality of heterogeneous speaker devices, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a speaker device, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5A-5C illustrates example frequency response information.

FIG. 6 is an example computer system useful for implementing variousembodiments.

In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical orsimilar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of areference number identifies the drawing in which the reference numberfirst appears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Provided herein are system, method, computer program product and/ordevice embodiments, and/or combinations thereof, for dynamicallyreproducing audio content at an improved or optimal level using aplurality of heterogeneous speaker devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates a home entertainment system 100 for performingdynamic multi-speaker optimization with a plurality of heterogeneousspeaker devices. Referring to FIG. 1, the home entertainment system 100includes a plurality of speaker devices 102 (i.e., speaker device 102(1)and speaker device 102(2)) placed in any location and/or configurationwithin a listening environment 101, and a media content device 104. Eachspeaker device 102 can be wired or wireless. Although FIG. 1 illustratestwo speaker devices 102, the home entertainment system 100 can includeany number of speaker devices 102. The media content device 104 may be,without limitation, a media player, television, a wireless device, asmartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop/mobile computer, a handheldcomputer, a server computer, an in-appliance device, streaming mediaplayer, a game console, and/or an audio/video receiver, to name justsome examples. In some embodiments, the media content device 104 may belocated in the same listening environment 101 as the plurality ofspeaker devices 102. Additionally, or alternatively, the media contentdevice 104 may be located remotely from the speaker devices 102.

Further, the speaker devices 102 and the content device 104 maycommunicate via a communication network(s) 106. The communicationnetwork 106 may include any or all of a wired and/or wireless privatenetwork, personal area network (PAN), Local-Area Network (LAN), aWide-Area Network (WAN), or the Internet.

In some embodiments, a user 108 may endeavor to playback audio content110 stored on the content device 104 using speaker device 102-1 andspeaker device 102-2. As such, the user 108 may form an audioreproduction group 112 including the speaker device 102-1 and speakerdevice 102-2. In some embodiments, an audio reproduction group 112includes the plurality of speaker devices 102 that may be used toreproduce media content. Further, the audio reproduction group 112 maysynchronously reproduce media content from a source device (e.g., thecontent device 104). In some examples, the user 108 may employ a pairingfunctionality of the speaker devices 102 to form the audio reproductiongroup 112. For instance, the speaker device 102(1) may determine thatthe distance between speaker device 102(1) and speaker device 102(2) isless than a predetermined amount, and attempt to form an audioreproduction group 112. In another instance, the speaker device 102(1)may attempt to form an audio reproduction group 112 in response to inputfrom the user 108.

Once the speaker devices 102 have joined the audio reproduction group112, the speaker devices 102 may exchange performance information 114.In some examples, the performance information 114 includes dataindicating the performance capabilities of the speaker devices 102across a range of frequencies and/or reproduction volume levels. Forexample, the performance information 114(1) may indicate the performancecapabilities of the speaker device 102(1) at a plurality of frequencybands. Additionally, or alternatively, the performance information114(1) may indicate the performance capabilities of the speaker device102(1) at a plurality of frequency bands when reproducing audio contentat particular volume levels.

In some embodiments, the performance information 114 includes aperformance rating of a corresponding speaker device 102 on a ratingscale. For example, the performance information 114(1) may including arating (e.g., letter, number grade, series of stars, etc.) of theperformance of the speaker device 102(1) at a particular frequency bandand/or volume level. Additionally, or alternatively, the performanceinformation 114 includes a frequency response of a corresponding speakerdevice 102. The frequency response of a speaker device is a function ofthe frequency of audio signals received by the speaker device in Hertz(Hz), and sensitivity of the speaker device in decibels (dB). Thefrequency response, which can often be displayed on a graph as a curve,describes how a device responds to audio signals across a range offrequencies. In a frequency response graph, frequencies are measured inHz along a graph's x-axis, with sound pressure level measured in dBalong the graph's y-axis. Desirable speaker devices have a flat curveresponse, meaning that low frequencies (20 Hz-500 Hz), mediumfrequencies (500 Hz to 5,000 Hz), and high frequencies (5,000 Hz-20 kHz)all have an equal volume. In some embodiments, the performance ratingincluded in the performance information 114 may be based at least inpart on the frequency response of the speaker device 102.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the speaker device 102(1) may transmit theperformance information 114(1) to the speaker device 102(2), and thespeaker device 102(2) may transmit the performance information 114(2) tothe speaker device 102(1). Upon receipt of the performance information114(2), the speaker device 102(1) compares the performance information114(1) to the performance information 114(2) to determine which of thespeaker devices 102 should be the dominant speaker device at one of aplurality of frequency bands, a plurality of volume levels, or one ormore mappings of a frequency band to a playback volume level. Forexample, the speaker device 102(1) may determine that the speaker device102(1) is the preferred sound output device at a lower frequency band(e.g., 20 Hz-500 Hz) based at least in part on comparing the performanceinformation 114(1) to the performance information 114(2). In someembodiments, the speaker devices 102 determine the preferred soundoutput device based on the performance value of the performanceinformation 114(1) being greater than the performance value of theperformance information 114(2). In some embodiments, the speaker devices102 may determine that both speaker devices are the preferred soundoutput device when the performance information 114 indicates they havecomparable performance capabilities.

As another example, the speaker device 102(1) may determine that thespeaker device 102(1) is the preferred sound output device at a lowerfrequency band when the reproduction volume level is 40 dB based atleast in part on comparing the performance information 114(1) to theperformance information 114(2). As yet still another example, thespeaker device 102(1) may determine that the speaker device 102(1) isthe preferred sound output device at a lower frequency band when thereproduction volume level is within a specified range based at least inpart on comparing the performance information 114(1) to the performanceinformation 114(2).

Further, upon receipt of the performance information 114(1), the speakerdevice 102(2) may perform a similar comparison to determine which of thespeaker devices 102 should be the dominant speaker device.Alternatively, one of the speaker devices may compare the performanceinformation 114, and transmit the results of the comparison to the otherspeaker device. For example, upon receipt of the performance information114(2), the speaker device 102(1) may determine which of the speakerdevices 102 should be the dominant speaker device at one or moremappings of a reproduction volume to a frequency band, and sendcomparison results 116 identifying which of the speaker devices 102should be the dominant speaker device at particular frequency bandsand/or reproduction volume levels to the speaker device 102(2).

In some embodiments, the speaker device 102(1) determines that thespeaker device 102(1) should be the dominant speaker device based atleast in part on identifying a first performance value of the speakerdevice 102(1) within the performance information 114(1), and comparingthe first performance value to a second performance value of the speakerdevice 102(2) within the performance information 114(2). In some otherembodiments, the speaker device 102(1) determines that the speakerdevice 102(1) should be the dominant speaker device based on identifyingthe frequency response of the speaker device 102(1) within theperformance information 114(1), and combining the performance of thespeaker device 102(1) with the frequency response of speaker device102(2) within the performance information 114(2) to generate a fullrange flat frequency response curve that indicates which speaker deviceshould be the preferred output device at particular frequency bandsand/or reproduction volume level and/or range as described herein withreference to FIG. 5C.

Once the speaker devices 102 determine which of the speakers should bethe dominant speaker at each of the individual frequency bands, thespeaker devices 102 generate filter settings 118 representing theresults of the comparison of the performance information 114(1) to theperformance information 114(2). For example, the filter settings 118 mayindicate that the speaker device 102(1) is the preferred sound outputdevice at a low frequency band. Further, as speaker devices 102 join andleave the audio reproduction group 112, the speaker devices 102 withinthe audio reproduction group 112 should compare the performanceinformation 114 corresponding to current members of the audioreproduction group to determine whether to update the filter settings118 in view of the membership update.

In some embodiments, the filter settings 118 may be modified based onuser preference, audio effects, a geospatial relationship between thespeaker devices 102, and/or one or more attributes of the listeningenvironment 101. For instance, the filter settings may be modified basedat least in part on audio features (bass, treble, balance, midrange,fading, etc.) selected by the user 108, a preferred sound mode (movie,music, surround decoder, direct playback, unprocessed, etc.) selected bythe user 108, a movie mode (standard, sci-fi, adventure, drama, sports,etc.), a music mode (concert hall, chamber, cellar club, music video, 2channel stereo, etc.) selected by the user 108, reproduction mode (e.g.,stereo mode, surround sound mode, mono mode), as well as any other audiocharacteristics selected by the user 108.

Further, the filter settings 118 may be modified based at least in parton one or more acoustic anomalies. For example, the listeningenvironment 101 may include acoustic anomalies, such as a roomconfiguration that affects acoustics. Another acoustic anomaly may becoupling, reflections, or echoes from interaction between the speakerdevices 102 and the walls of the listening environment 101. Anadditional acoustic anomaly may be audio effects caused by dynamicconditions of temperature, humidity and changing absorption.

Once the speaker devices 102 configure the filter settings 118, thefilters 120 of the speaker devices 102 may implement the filter settings118, respectively. For example, when the filter settings 118(2) indicatethat the speaker device 102(1) is the preferred output device at avolume setting and a low frequency band, the filter 120(2) may modifythe audio content 110 so that a portion of the audio content 110corresponding to the low frequency band is not reproduced by the speakerdevice 102(2). However, the filters 120(2) may not remove portions ofthe audio content that do not correspond to the low frequency band fromthe audio signal reproduced by the speaker device 102(2). Further, thefilter 120(1) may ensure that the speaker device 102(1) reproduces theportion of the audio content 110 corresponding to the low frequency bandin accordance with the filter settings 118(1). However, the filters120(1) may remove portions of the audio content that do not correspondto the low frequency band from the audio signal reproduced by thespeaker device 102(1). In some embodiments, the filters 120 may beimplemented as crossover filters in order to ensure that the audiocontent 110 is reproduced in accordance with the filter settings 118.

Further, the filters 120 may dynamically apply different filter settings118 to the audio content 110 based upon a volume requested by the user108. For example, the filter settings 118(1) may indicate that thespeaker device 102(1) is the preferred output device at a mapping of afrequency band to a first volume level, and indicate that the speakerdevice 102(1) is not the preferred at a mapping of the same frequencyband to a second volume level. Accordingly, when the user 108 selectsthat the audio content 110 be reproduced at the second volume level, thefilters 120 may ensure that the speaker device 102(2) reproduces theportion of the audio content 110 corresponding to the frequency band inaccordance with the filter settings 118.

According to some embodiments, the filters 120 may include linear timeinvariant (LTI) filters. Embodiments may use two types of LTI filters,Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters and/or Infinite Impulse Response(IIR) filters.

FIG. 2 illustrates a home entertainment system 100 for configuringdynamic multi-speaker optimization with a plurality of heterogeneousspeaker devices. Referring to FIG. 2, the home entertainment system 200includes a plurality of speaker devices 202(1)-(N), a configurationserver 204, and a user device 206. In an embodiment, the speaker devices202(1)-202(N) may include wired and/or wireless device speakers placedin any location and/or configuration by a user 208 within a listeningenvironment 210. According to an embodiment, the speaker devices 202 mayinclude a heterogeneous group of speaker devices. For example, thespeaker devices 202 may include a plurality of speaker devices havingdifferent performance capabilities and/or speaker device attributes(e.g., manufacturer, brand, model, version, hardware, software, drivers,etc.). Further, the speaker devices 202, the configuration server 204,and the user device 206 may communicate via a communication network(s)212. The communication network 106 may include any or all of a privatenetwork, personal area network (PAN), Local-Area Network (LAN), aWide-Area Network (WAN), or the Internet. Further, the connectionbetween any of the speaker devices 202, the configuration server 204, orthe user device 206, and the communication network(s) 212 may be awireless connection (e.g., Bluetooth™ Wi-Fi connection, etc.) or wiredconnection.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the speaker device 202 includes managementmodule 214 for managing operation of the speaker device, performanceinformation 216 indicating the performance capabilities of the speakerdevice 202, a microphone 218 for recording speaker device performance,and a location module 220 for monitoring the location of the speakerdevice 202 within the listening environment 210. Individual speakerdevices 202(1)-(N) are associated with individual performanceinformation 222. For example, a first speaker device 202(1) isassociated with a first performance information 222(1), a second speakerdevice 202(2) is associated with a second performance information222(2), an Nth speaker device 202(N) is associated with an nthperformance information 222(N), and so forth.

In some embodiments, a manufacturer of the speaker device 202 maydetermine the performance information 222 during the manufacturingprocess, and store the performance information 222 to a non-volatilememory component of the speaker device 202. For instance, a manufacturerof the speaker device 202(1) may perform a testing process to determinethe performance information 222(1) corresponding to the speaker device202(1). Furthermore, the manufacturer may store the performanceinformation 222(1) to the speaker device 202(1) prior to the sale of thespeaker device 202(1) to a customer (e.g., the user 208).

The configuration server 204 may be employed to configure the speakerdevices 102. The configuration server 204 may include one or moreservers or other types of computing devices that may be embodied in anynumber of ways. For instance, the modules, other functional components,and data may be implemented on a single server, a cluster of servers, aserver farm or data center, a cloud-hosted computing service, and soforth, although other computer architectures may additionally oralternatively be used. In some embodiments, the configuration server 204may be located in the same physical environment as the plurality ofspeaker devices 102. Additionally, or alternatively, the configurationserver 204 may be located remotely from the speaker devices 102.

Further, while the figures illustrate the components and data of theconfiguration server 204 as being present in a single location, thesecomponents and data may alternatively be distributed across differentcomputing devices and different locations in any manner. Consequently,the functions may be implemented by one or more computing devices, withthe various functionality described above distributed in various waysacross the different computing devices. Multiple configuration servers204 may be located together or separately, and organized, for example,as virtual servers, server banks and/or server farms. The describedfunctionality may be provided by the servers of a single entity orenterprise, or may be provided by the servers and/or services ofmultiple different entities or enterprises.

As illustrated in in FIG. 2, the configuration server 204 includes amanagement application 224, and speaker device information 226 thatincludes speaker device profiles 227(1)-(N) corresponding to the speakerdevices 202(1)-(N). For example, the first speaker device profile 227(1)is associated with the first speaker device 202(1), the second speakerdevice profile 227(2) is associated with the second speaker device202(2), the Nth speaker device profile 227(N) is associated with the Nthspeaker device 202(N), and so forth. The speaker device information 226may include performance capabilities of various speaker devices 202,historic performance data collected from the speaker devices 202 and/orthe user device 206, historic performance data collected with respect tothe use of various speaker devices 202 in a common audio reproductiongroup, and/or user feedback.

Further, the management application 224 may provide the speaker deviceinformation 226 to the speaker devices 202. For example, the speakerdevice 202(1) may require speaker device information 226 correspondingto the speaker device 202(1). As such, the management module 214(1) orthe user device 206 may send an information request 228 to themanagement application 224. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the informationrequest 228 may include a speaker device identifier 229 corresponding tothe speaker device 202(1). Upon receipt of the information request 228,the management application 224 may send an information response 230including performance information and/or speaker settings correspondingto the speaker device 202(1). In some embodiments, the contents of theinformation response 230 are collected from the speaker device profile227(1) corresponding to the speaker device 202(1) and/or other speakerdevices 202 related to the speaker device 202(1). Once the speakerdevice 202(1) receives the information response 230, the managementmodule 214(1) may store the contents of the information response 230 asthe performance information 222(1).

In some embodiments, the contents of the information response 230 may beused to update the performance information 222(1). According to anexample embodiment, the management application 224 may employ machinelearning methods to update the performance information 222(1) and thespeaker devices profiles 228(N) based at least in part on historicperformance data collected by the configuration server 204. Forinstance, the historic performance data collected by the configurationserver 204 may indicate that the performance information 222 determinedby the manufacturer overestimates the performance capabilities of thespeaker device 202(1) when reproducing audio at a particular frequencyband. As a result, the management application 224 may generate moreaccurate performance values for the speaker device 202(1), and store therevised performance in the speaker device profile 227(1). Further, themanagement application 224 may transmit an information response 230including the revised performance values to the speaker device 202(1).Upon receipt of the revised performance values, the speaker device202(1) may update the performance information 222 with the revisedperformance values. Additionally, or alternatively, one of the speakerdevices 202 or the user device 206 may be used to determine the revisedperformance values.

In some other embodiments, the home entertainment system 200 maydynamically determine the performance information 222. For example, themanagement module 214 may direct the speaker device 202(1) to play atest signal. Further, at least one of the speaker devices 202(1)-(N) maycapture a recording of the test signal via the microphones 218(1)-(N).Further, the captured recording may be used to determine or update theperformance information 222(1). For example, the captured recording maybe sent to the configuration server 204 as the sample audio 232. In someembodiments, the sample audio 232 may include the speaker deviceidentifier 229 corresponding to the speaker device 202(1). Upon receiptof the sample audio 232, the configuration server 204 may determine theperformance information 222(1) based on the sample audio 232, andtransmit the determined performance information 222(1) to the speakerdevice 202(1) in the information response 230. Additionally, oralternatively, one of the speaker devices 202 or the user device 206 maybe used to determine the performance information 222(1) based oncaptured recording.

In addition, the user device 206 may be employed to configure thespeaker devices 102. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the user device 204 mayinclude a management application 234 for managing the speaker devices202, a microphone 236 for capturing test signals reproduced by thespeaker devices 202, and a location module 238 for determining thelocations of the speaker devices 202 within the listening environment210. Some examples of the user device 206, include smart phones andmobile communication devices, tablet computing devices, desktops,laptops, netbooks and other portable computers, wearable computingdevices, and any other computing device capable of sendingcommunications to the speaker devices 202 or the configuration server204.

In some embodiments, the speaker devices 202 and/or the user device 206may be used to customize the performance information 222 to betterreflect the actual performance of the speaker devices 202 in view ofcontextual information (e.g., characteristics of the listeningenvironment 210, geospatial relationship between the speaker devices202, and/or preferences of the user 208). As described above, acousticanomalies may affect the ability of the speaker devices 202 to performin accordance with the performance information 222. Thus, it isnecessary to monitor the performance of the speaker devices 202, andrevise the performance information 222 to reflect the actual performanceof the speaker devices 202.

In some embodiments, the location modules (the location modules 220 andthe location module 238) and/or microphones (i.e., the microphones 218and the microphone 236) may determine the proximity of a speaker device202 to a wall and/or furniture, the proximity of a speaker device 202 tothe user device 206, the distance between the speaker devices 202, theheight of the placement of the speaker device 202, the orientation ofthe speaker device 202, and/or the position of the speaker device 202within the listening environment 201. Once the speaker devices 202and/or the user device 206 determine the aforementioned contextualinformation, the speaker devices 202 and/or the user device 206 maydetermine context-specific performance information 222 particular to thecontextual information. Further, the speaker devices may employ thecontext-specific performance information 222 when the context isdetected by at least one of the user device 206 and/or the speakerdevices 202.

Further, the speaker devices 202 and the user device 206 may detectchanges to the contextual information, and employ more appropriatecontext-specific performance information 222 in response. For example,the location module 220(1) of the speaker device 202(1) may determinethat the speaker device 202(1) has been moved to a new location withinthe listening environment 210. As a result, the speaker device 202(1)may identify performance information 222(1) corresponding to the newlocation or determine new performance information 222(1) correspondingto the new location. Further, the performance information 222(1)corresponding to the new location may be used to determine filtersettings (e.g., the filter settings 118) for a filter (e.g., the filter120) applied by the speaker device 202(1) as described in FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, the contextual information may also be used todetermine the extent to which to apply a filter (e.g., the filter 120).For example, the speaker device 202(1) may determine a change in thegeospatial relationship between the speaker device 202(1) and thespeaker device 202(2) based on the microphone 218(1) (e.g., the speakerdevice 202(1) may be placed in a different room than the speaker device202(2)). Further, the user 208 may indicate to the speaker device 202(1)and/or the management application 234 that the user 208 will be locatedin the room containing the speaker device 202(1). As result, even if thespeaker device 202(2) is the preferred output device in accordance withthe filter settings (e.g., 118), the filter settings may be slightlymodified to rely at least partially on speaker device 202(1) given theproximity of the user 208 to the speaker device 202(1).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for performing dynamic multi-speaker optimizationwith a plurality of heterogeneous speaker device, according to someembodiments. Process 300 can be performed by processing logic that cancomprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not allsteps may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further,some of the steps may be performed simultaneously, or in a differentorder than shown in FIG. 3, as will be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art.

At 302, a speaker device may identify first performance informationassociated with a local speaker device. For example, the speaker device202(1) may identify pre-stored performance information 222(1) present onthe speaker device 202(1). As another example, the speaker device 202(1)may transmit the information request 228 to the configuration server204. In response, the configuration server 204 may transmit theinformation response 230 including the performance information 222(1) tothe speaker device 202(1).

At 304, the speaker device may receive, at the local speaker device,second performance information associated with a remote speaker deviceof the plurality of heterogeneous speaker devices. For example, thespeaker device 102(1) and the speaker device 102(2) may form an audioreproduction group 112. In some embodiments, the speaker devices mayemploy a management module (e.g., management module 214 or managementapplication 234) to form the audio reproduction group 112. Once theaudio reproduction group 112 has been formed, the speaker devices 102may exchange the performance information 114.

At 306, the speaker device may compare the first performance informationto the second performance information. For example, the speaker device102(1) may compare the performance information 114(1) to the performanceinformation 114(2). In some embodiments, the performance information 114includes a performance rating of a corresponding speaker device 102 on arating scale. Further, the performance information 114 may includeand/or be based on a frequency responses of the speaker devices 102,respectively.

At 308, the speaker device may determine that the local speaker deviceis a preferred output device at a mapping of a frequency band to aspeaker volume based at least in part on the comparing. For example, thespeaker device 102(1) may determine that the speaker device 102(1) isthe preferred sound output device at a lower frequency band (e.g., 20Hz-500 Hz) based at least in part on comparing a performance value ofperformance information 114(1) to a performance value of the performanceinformation 114(2). As another example, the speaker device 102(1) maydetermine that the speaker device 102(1) is the preferred sound outputdevice at a lower frequency band when the reproduction volume level is40 dB based at least in part on comparing frequency response informationof the performance information 114(1) to frequency response informationof the performance information 114(2). As yet still another example, thespeaker device 102(1) may determine that the speaker device 102(1) isthe preferred sound output device at a lower frequency band when thereproduction volume level is within a specified range based at least inpart on comparing the performance information 114(1) to the performanceinformation 114(2).

At 310, the speaker device may generate a filter setting of the localspeaker device indicating that the local speaker device is the preferredoutput device at the mapping of the frequency band to the speakervolume. For example, the speaker devices 102 may generate filtersettings 118 representing the results of the comparison of theperformance information 114(1) to the performance information 114(2). Inparticular, the filter settings 118 may indicate that the speaker device102(1) is the preferred sound output device at a low frequency band.Examples of filter settings tables generated by the speaker devices 102are shown below in Tables 1 and 2.

TABLE 1 Filter Settings Table Frequency Band Preferred Output Device LowSpeaker Device A Mid Speaker Device B High Speaker Device C

TABLE 2 Filter Settings Table Frequency Band Volume Level PreferredOutput Device Low −3 dB Speaker Device A Low −2.99 dB to 3 dB SpeakerDevice B Mid   −3 dB to 3 dB Speaker Device A

At 312, the speaker device may receive, at the local speaker device, anaudio signal associated with digital content, at least a portion of theaudio signal to be reproduced by the local speaker device. For example,the user 108 may employ the speaker devices 102 to reproduce content 110received from the media content device 104.

At 314, the speaker device may determine a volume setting associatedwith the audio signal corresponds to the mapping of the frequency bandto the speaker volume. For example, the user 108 may select a volumelevel of the speaker devices 102.

At 316, the speaker device may filter, based on the filter setting andthe volume setting, the audio signal to generate a filtered audiosignal. For example, speaker devices 102 may modify the content 110using the filters 120 in accordance with the filter settings 118. Forinstance, if the filter settings 118(1) indicate that the speaker device102(1) is the preferred output device at a mapping of a frequency bandto a first volume level, the filters 120(2) may filter the audio signalreproduced by the speaker device 102(2) to ensure that the speakerdevice 102(2) does not reproduce the portion of the audio content 110corresponding to the frequency band. By applying the filters 120 to thecontent 110 to generate a filtered audio signal in accordance with thefilter settings 118, the speaker devices 102 dynamically interchange asthe dominant speaker during audio reproduction of the content 110 basedon the performance capability. Thereby ensuring that the user 108 isprovided an optimal and/or improved listening experience.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example embodiment 400 of the speakerdevices 102 and 202 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. The speakerdevice 400 may comprise one or more communication interfaces 402 forreceiving content (e.g., the audio content 110) from a content device(e.g., the media content device 104), a digital decoder 404 for decodingthe content into its separate audio components; a processor 406 (e.g.,digital signal processor), a non-transitory computer readable memory 408coupled to the processor 406; one or more speaker amplifiers410(1)-(N)(e.g., a tweeter amplifier, a midrange amplifier, and a wooferamplifier), one or more speaker transducers 412(1)-(N) coupled to thespeaker amplifiers 410(1)-(N), respectively, a microphone 414, locationsensors 416 (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscope, magnetometers, proximitydevices, GPS, etc.) for determining a location of the speaker device400, a speaker control module 418 for receiving user commands via one ormore controls (e.g., buttons and/or a remote control interface), a powersupply 420, and a speaker cabinet 422 to enclose components of thespeaker device 400.

The communication interface(s) 402 include one or more interfaces andhardware components for enabling communication with various otherdevices, such as other speaker devices (e.g., the speaker devices 102),user devices (e.g., the user device 206), and configuration servers(e.g., the configuration server 204). For example, communicationinterface(s) 402 facilitate communication through one or more of theInternet, cellular networks, and wireless networks (e.g., Wi-Fi,cellular).

The non-transitory, tangible computer readable memory (CRM) 408 is usedto store any number of functional components that are executable by theprocessor 406. In many implementations, these functional componentscomprise instructions or programs that are executable by the processorsand that, when executed, specifically configure the one or moreprocessors 406 to perform the actions attributed above to the speakerdevices (e.g., the speaker devices 102 and the speaker devices 202). Inaddition, the non-transitory, tangible computer readable memory 408stores data used for performing the operations described herein. In theillustrated example, the functional components stored in thenon-transitory computer readable memory 408 include a management module424 (e.g., the management module 214), location module 426 (e.g., thelocation module 220), and one or more filters 428 (e.g., the filters120). In some embodiments, the location module includes a globalpositioning system (GPS) and/or an indoor positioning system (IPS)device. Further, the non-transitory computer readable memory 408 maystore performance information 430 (e.g., the performance information222) corresponding to the speaker device 400, and filter settings 432(e.g., the filter settings 118) corresponding to the filters 428.

The processor 406 may select which portion of the content will beprocessed. In some embodiments, in a stereo mode, the speaker device 400processes either the left stereophonic channel or right stereophonicchannel. In a surround sound mode, the speaker device 400 selects asignal to process from among the multiple channels. The selection of theplayback mode (e.g., stereo mode, mono mode, surround sound mode) may beperformed via the speaker control module 418. In some embodiments, thefilters 428 modify the content to determine the frequencies of thecontent that are reproduced by the speaker device 400 in accordance withthe filter settings 432. This may be done by performing crossover, phasematching, and time alignment filtering function in a digitalimplementation. In some examples, the filters 428 may include FIR or IIRfilters that implement a crossover filtering technique.

The output of the processor 406 may be a set of filtered digital audiosignals, one for each of the speaker transducers 412(1)-(N). Thesesignals may be directed to the inputs of digital amplifiers, whichgenerate high power output signals that drive the speaker transducers412(1)-(N) to produce an optimal and/or improved reproduction of thecontent in concert with one or more other speaker devices havingdifferent performance capabilities in accordance with the presentinvention.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that thefunctionality of the speaker devices (e.g., speaker devices 102, speakerdevices 202, speaker device 400) described herein can be performed byother home entertainment devices, such as a media player, television, awireless device, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop/mobilecomputer, a handheld computer, a server computer, an in-appliancedevice, streaming media player, a game console, an audio/video receiver,and so forth. In some embodiments, a home entertainment device maydetermine the preferred output devices of an audio reproduction group(e.g., audio reproduction group 112), and send filter settings (e.g.,filter settings 118) indicating the determined preferred output devicesto the speaker devices (e.g., speaker devices 102) of the an audioreproduction group.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate example frequency responses for a pair ofspeaker devices (e.g., the speaker device 102-1 and the speaker device102-1) in an audio reproduction group (e.g., the audio reproductiongroup 112). FIG. 5C illustrates an example frequency response resultingfrom employing an embodiment of the present disclosure. As described indetail above, the speaker devices (e.g., the speaker device of an audioreproduction group exchange performance information (e.g., theperformance information 114), and determine which of the speaker devicesis the preferred output device at different frequency bands and/orvolume levels.

In some embodiments, the speaker devices identify the preferred outputdevice based on comparing the frequency responses of the speakerdevices, and combining the frequency responses (i.e., frequency response(e.g., FIG. 5A) of a first speaker device with the frequency response(e.g., FIG. 5C) of a second speaker device) to generate a combinedfrequency response 502 that provides a full range flat response curve ata reproduction volume level requested by a user (e.g., the user 108).For example, suppose the user requests a volume level within the volumerange 504. The speaker devices will configure the filter settings of thespeaker devices such that the speaker device with the frequency responsethat is represented in the combined frequency response 502 is thepreferred output device. For example, the first speaker devicecorresponding to the frequency response of FIG. B would be the preferredoutput device within the frequency range 506.

In some embodiments, the frequency responses of the audio reproductiongroup may be combined to form a curve other than a full range flat curvesound signature. For example, the combined frequency response 502 may begenerated to form a “u-shaped” sound signature or a “v-shaped” soundsignature in accordance with user preferences, a user audio profile,and/or an attribute of the content (e.g., genre). In some instances, thesound signature preferences and user audio profiles may be stored on thespeaker device and/or a configuration device (e.g., the configurationserver 204 or the user device 206). Further, the user may request thatthe audio reproduction group playback content in accordance with aselected sound signature.

Example Computer System

Various embodiments can be implemented, for example, using one or morewell-known computer systems, such as computer system 600 shown in FIG.6. Computer system 600 can be any well-known computer capable ofperforming the functions described herein, such as computers availablefrom International Business Machines, Apple, Sun, HP, Dell, Sony,Toshiba, etc.

Computer system 600 includes one or more processors (also called centralprocessing units, or CPUs), such as a processor 604. Processor 604 isconnected to a communication infrastructure or bus 606.

Computer system 600 also includes user input/output device(s) 603, suchas monitors, keyboards, pointing devices, etc., which communicate withcommunication infrastructure 606 through user input/output interface(s)602.

Computer system 600 also includes a main or primary memory 608, such asrandom access memory (RAM). Main memory 608 may include one or morelevels of cache. Main memory 608 has stored therein control logic (i.e.,computer software) and/or data.

Computer system 600 may also include one or more secondary storagedevices or memory 610. Secondary memory 610 may include, for example, ahard disk drive 612 and/or a removable storage device or drive 614.Removable storage drive 614 may be a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tapedrive, a compact disk drive, an optical storage device, tape backupdevice, and/or any other storage device/drive.

Removable storage drive 614 may interact with a removable storage unit618. Removable storage unit 618 includes a computer usable or readablestorage device having stored thereon computer software (control logic)and/or data. Removable storage unit 618 may be a floppy disk, magnetictape, compact disk, DVD, optical storage disk, and/or any other computerdata storage device. Removable storage drive 614 reads from and/orwrites to removable storage unit 618 in a well-known manner.

According to an exemplary embodiment, secondary memory 610 may includeother means, instrumentalities or other approaches for allowing computerprograms and/or other instructions and/or data to be accessed bycomputer system 600. Such means, instrumentalities or other approachesmay include, for example, a removable storage unit 622 and an interface620. Examples of the removable storage unit 622 and the interface 620may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as thatfound in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROMor PROM) and associated socket, a memory stick and USB port, a memorycard and associated memory card slot, and/or any other removable storageunit and associated interface.

Computer system 600 may further include a communication or networkinterface 624. Communication interface 624 enables computer system 600to communicate and interact with any combination of remote devices,remote networks, remote entities, etc. (individually and collectivelyreferenced by reference number 628). For example, communicationinterface 624 may allow computer system 600 to communicate with remotedevices 628 over communications path 626, which may be wired and/orwireless, and which may include any combination of LANs, WANs, theInternet, etc. Control logic and/or data may be transmitted to and fromcomputer system 600 via communication path 626.

In an embodiment, a tangible apparatus or article of manufacturecomprising a tangible computer useable or readable medium having controllogic (software) stored thereon is also referred to herein as a computerprogram product or program storage device. This includes, but is notlimited to, computer system 600, main memory 608, secondary memory 610,and removable storage units 618 and 622, as well as tangible articles ofmanufacture embodying any combination of the foregoing. Such controllogic, when executed by one or more data processing devices (such ascomputer system 600), causes such data processing devices to operate asdescribed herein.

Based on the teachings contained in this disclosure, it will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s) how to make and useembodiments of this disclosure using data processing devices, computersystems and/or computer architectures other than that shown in FIG. 6.In particular, embodiments can operate with software, hardware, and/oroperating system implementations other than those described herein.

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notany other section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. Othersections can set forth one or more but not all exemplary embodiments ascontemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limitthis disclosure or the appended claims in any way.

While this disclosure describes exemplary embodiments for exemplaryfields and applications, it should be understood that the disclosure isnot limited thereto. Other embodiments and modifications thereto arepossible, and are within the scope and spirit of this disclosure. Forexample, and without limiting the generality of this paragraph,embodiments are not limited to the software, hardware, firmware, and/orentities illustrated in the figures and/or described herein. Further,embodiments (whether or not explicitly described herein) havesignificant utility to fields and applications beyond the examplesdescribed herein.

Embodiments have been described herein with the aid of functionalbuilding blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functionsand relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of thedescription. Alternate boundaries can be defined as long as thespecified functions and relationships (or equivalents thereof) areappropriately performed. Also, alternative embodiments can performfunctional blocks, steps, operations, methods, etc. using orderingsdifferent than those described herein.

References herein to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an exampleembodiment,” or similar phrases, indicate that the embodiment describedcan include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, butevery embodiment can not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, it would be within the knowledge of persons skilled in therelevant art(s) to incorporate such feature, structure, orcharacteristic into other embodiments whether or not explicitlymentioned or described herein. Additionally, some embodiments can bedescribed using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along withtheir derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as synonymsfor each other. For example, some embodiments can be described using theterms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate that two or more elementsare in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. The term“coupled,” however, can also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other.

The breadth and scope of this disclosure should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for dynamically configuring audioreproduction via a local speaker device, comprising: receiving, at thelocal speaker device, remote device performance information associatedwith a remote speaker device; comparing local device performanceinformation associated with the local speaker device to the remotedevice performance information, the comparing comprising determiningwhether a first performance value at a frequency band is greater orlesser than a second performance value at the frequency band; generatinga filter setting corresponding to the frequency band based on thecomparing; and filtering, based on the filter setting, an audio signalto generate a filtered audio signal.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising reproducing the filtered audio signal via a speaker componentof the local speaker device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thefilter setting is a first filter setting, the audio signal is a firstaudio signal, the filtered audio signal is a first filtered audiosignal, and further comprising: collecting historic performance datacorresponding to at least one of the local speaker device or the remotespeaker device; generating updated performance information based on thehistoric performance data; generating a second filter settingcorresponding to the frequency band based on comparing the updatedperformance information to the local device performance information orthe remote device performance information; filtering, based on thesecond filter setting, a second audio signal to generate a secondfiltered audio signal; and reproducing the second filtered audio signalvia a speaker component of the local speaker device.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the filter setting is a first filter setting, the audiosignal is a first audio signal, the filtered audio signal is a firstfiltered audio signal, and further comprising: collecting historicperformance data corresponding to at least one of the local speakerdevice or the remote speaker device; sending the historic performancedata to a configuration server; receiving, from the configurationserver, updated performance information corresponding to the historicperformance data; generating a second filter setting corresponding tothe frequency band based on comparing the updated performanceinformation to the local device performance information or the remotedevice performance information; filtering, based on the second filtersetting, a second audio signal to generate a second filtered audiosignal; and reproducing the second filtered audio signal via a speakercomponent of the local speaker device.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinfiltering the audio signal to generate the filtered audio signalcomprises: removing a first portion of the audio signal corresponding tothe frequency band; or removing a second portion of the audio signalthat does not correspond to the frequency band.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the local speaker device and the remote speaker device form agroup of speaker devices, the frequency band is a first frequency band,the filter setting is a first filter setting, the audio signal is afirst audio signal, the filtered audio signal is a first filtered audiosignal, the remote speaker device is a second speaker device, the remotedevice performance information is second performance information, andfurther comprising: adding a third speaker device to the group ofspeaker devices; receiving third performance information associated withthe third speaker device; comparing the local device performanceinformation, the second performance information, and the thirdperformance information; generating a second filter settingcorresponding to a second frequency band based on comparing the localdevice performance information, the second performance information, andthe third performance information; and filtering, based on the secondfilter setting, a second audio signal to generate a second filteredaudio signal.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: determiningthat the third speaker device has been removed from the group of speakerdevices; generating a third filter setting corresponding to the secondfrequency band based on comparing the local device performanceinformation and the second performance information; and filtering, basedon the third filter setting, a third audio signal to generate a thirdfiltered audio signal.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the audiosignal is a first audio signal, the filtered audio signal is a firstfiltered audio signal, and further comprising: determining a contextualattribute of the local speaker device or the remote speaker device;modifying, based on the contextual attribute, the filter setting todetermine a modified filter setting; and filtering, based on themodified filter setting, a second audio signal to generate a secondfiltered audio signal.
 9. A local speaker device, comprising: a wirelesscommunication interface; amplifier circuitry and an associated speaker;a memory storing local device performance information associated with afrequency band; and one or more processors and/or circuits configuredto: receive remote device performance information associated with aremote speaker device; determine a comparison result indicating whethera first performance value at a frequency band is greater or lesser thana second performance value at the frequency band; generate a filtersetting corresponding to the frequency band based on the comparisonresult; receive an audio signal via the wireless communicationinterface; filter, based on the filter setting, the audio signal togenerate a filtered audio signal; and transmit the filtered audio signalto the amplifier circuitry for reproduction by the speaker.
 10. Thelocal speaker device of claim 9, wherein the audio signal is a firstaudio signal, and the one or more processors and/or circuits are furtherconfigured to: determine a contextual attribute of the local speakerdevice or the remote speaker device; modify, based on the contextualattribute, the filter setting to determine a modified filter setting;and filter, based on the modified filter setting, a second audio signalto generate a second filtered audio signal; and transmit the secondaudio signal to the amplifier circuitry for reproduction by the speaker.11. The local speaker device of claim 9, wherein the filter setting is afirst filter setting, the audio signal is a first audio signal, thefiltered audio signal is a first filtered audio signal, and the one ormore processors and/or circuits are further configured to: collecthistoric performance data corresponding to at least one of the localspeaker device or the remote speaker device; generate updatedperformance information based on the historic performance data; generatea second filter setting corresponding to the frequency band based oncomparing the updated performance information to the local deviceperformance information or the remote device performance information;filter, based on the second filter setting, a second audio signal togenerate a second filtered audio signal; and transmit the secondfiltered audio signal to the amplifier circuitry for reproduction by thespeaker.
 12. The local speaker device of claim 9, wherein the filtersetting is a first filter setting, the audio signal is a first audiosignal, the filtered audio signal is a first filtered audio signal, andthe one or more processors and/or circuits are further configured to:collect historic performance data corresponding to at least one of thelocal speaker device or the remote speaker device; send the historicperformance data to a configuration server; receive, from theconfiguration server, updated performance information corresponding tothe historic performance data; generate a second filter settingcorresponding to the frequency band based on comparing the updatedperformance information to the local device performance information orthe remote device performance information; filter, based on the secondfilter setting, a second audio signal to generate a second filteredaudio signal; and transmit the second filtered audio signal to theamplifier circuitry for reproduction by the speaker.
 13. The localspeaker device of claim 9, wherein to filter the audio signal, the oneor more processors and/or circuits are further configured to: remove afirst portion of the audio signal corresponding to the frequency band;or remove a second portion of the audio signal that does not correspondto the frequency band.
 14. The local speaker device of claim 9, whereinthe local speaker device and the remote speaker device form a group ofspeaker devices, the frequency band is a first frequency band, thefilter setting is a first filter setting, the audio signal is a firstaudio signal, the filtered audio signal is a first filtered audiosignal, the remote speaker device is a second speaker device, the remotedevice performance information is second performance information, andthe one or more processors and/or circuits are further configured to:add a third speaker device to the group of speaker devices; receivethird performance information associated with the third speaker device;compare the local device performance information, the second performanceinformation, and the third performance information; generate a secondfilter setting corresponding to a second frequency band based oncomparing the local device performance information, the secondperformance information, and the third performance information; andfilter, based on the second filter setting, a second audio signal togenerate a second filtered audio signal.
 15. The local speaker device ofclaim 14, wherein the one or more processors and/or circuits are furtherconfigured to: determine that the third speaker device has been removedfrom the group of speaker devices; generate a third filter settingcorresponding to the second frequency band based on comparing the localdevice performance information and the second performance information;and filter, based on the third filter setting, a third audio signal togenerate a third filtered audio signal.
 16. A system, comprising: afirst speaker device associated with first performance information; anda second speaker device associated with second performance information,the second speaker device including one or more processors and/orcircuits configured to: receive the first performance information;determine a comparison result indicating whether a first performancevalue at a frequency band associated is greater or lesser than a secondperformance value at the frequency band; generate a filter settingcorresponding to the frequency band based on the comparison result;wirelessly receive a content signal from a remote content device; filterthe content signal based at least in part on the filter setting togenerate a filtered audio signal; amplify the filtered audio signal todetermine an amplified content signal; and reproduce the amplifiedcontent signal via a speaker of the second speaker device.
 17. Thesystem of claim 16, further comprising: a third speaker device, andwherein the content signal is a first content signal, the frequency bandis a first frequency band, the filtered audio signal is a first filteredaudio signal, the amplified signal is a first amplified signal, and theone or more processors and/or circuits are further configured to:receive third performance information associated with the third speakerdevice; compare the first performance information, the secondperformance information, and the third performance information; generatea second filter setting corresponding to a second frequency band basedon comparing the first performance information, the second performanceinformation, and the third performance information; wirelessly receive asecond content signal from the remote content device; filter the secondcontent signal based at least in part on the second filter setting togenerate a second filtered audio signal; amplify the second filteredaudio signal to determine a second amplified content signal; andreproduce the second amplified content signal via the speaker of thesecond speaker device.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein to filter theaudio signal, the one or more processors and/or circuits are furtherconfigured to: remove a first portion of the audio signal correspondingto the frequency band; or remove a second portion of the audio signalthat does not correspond to the frequency band.
 19. The system of claim16, wherein the filter setting is a first filter setting, the audiosignal is a first audio signal, the filtered audio signal is a firstfiltered audio signal, the one or more processors and/or circuits arefurther configured to: collect historic performance data correspondingto at least one of the first speaker device or the second speakerdevice; generate updated performance information based on the historicperformance data; generate a second filter setting corresponding to thefrequency band based on comparing the updated performance information tothe first device performance information or the second deviceperformance information; filter, based on the second filter setting, asecond audio signal to generate a second filtered audio signal; andtransmit the second filtered audio signal to the amplifier circuitry forreproduction by the speaker.
 20. The system of claim 16, wherein thefilter setting is a first filter setting, the audio signal is a firstaudio signal, the filtered audio signal is a first filtered audiosignal, the one or more processors and/or circuits are furtherconfigured to: collect historic performance data corresponding to atleast one of the first speaker device or the second speaker device; sendthe historic performance data to a configuration server; receive, fromthe configuration server, updated performance information correspondingto the historic performance data; generate a second filter settingcorresponding to the frequency band based on comparing the updatedperformance information to the first device performance information orthe second device performance information; filter, based on the secondfilter setting, a second audio signal to generate a second filteredaudio signal; and reproducing the second filtered audio signal via thespeaker component of the second speaker device.